Some of the past participants and winners have gone on to getting agents and/or publishing deals. Inaugural winner Lucy Van Smit was swiftly signed by literary agent Sallyanne Sweeney. Jane Brittan attracted a Carnegie Medal nomination for her indie-published debut. Shortlistee Sophie Cameron signed a book deal with Macmillan Children’s after accepting representation with literary agent Hellie Ogden for her YA novel Out of the Blue. Struan Murray signed a six figure deal with Penguin Random House for his novel Orphans of the Tide.

Entry for the award ends December 2, 2018 (and remember, this is UK time zone)! For complete guidelines and entry fee information, go here. As always, good luck!

Serendipity Literary Agency is hosting their annual writer’s Young Adult Discovery Competition. If writers are having trouble pitching ideas, no worries with this contest because they won’t even need a query! Seriously, only the first 250 words will be needed to submit.

YA literary agent Regina Brooks and her team will read all of the entries and determine the top 20 submissions. (There will be great prizes for the top winners!) These submissions will then be read by editors from many of the major publishing houses. Past judges include editors from Scholastic, Random House/Penguin, Little Brown, Candlewick, Bloomsbury, Simon and Schuster, JIMMY Patterson Books, and Abram Books. Judges will whittle the top 20 down to five winners, including a Grand Prize Winner.

Submissions open on November 1, 2018 at 12:01am (ET) and close on November 30, 2018 at 12:59pm (ET). Only one entry per person with a $15 entry fee. The contest is open to U.S. and Canada residents only.

For complete guidelines and submission rules, or to watch for their upcoming post about prizes, go here. As always, good luck!

L. Ron Hubbard’s Writers and Illustrators of the Future contest entries ends on September 30, 2018. So, hurry and get your submissions in.

Writers
L. Ron Hubbard’s Writers of the Future Contest is an opportunity for new and amateur writers of new short stories or novelettes of science fiction or fantasy. No entry fee is required. Entrants retain all publication rights. All awards are adjudicated by professional writers only. Prizes every three months: $1,000, $750, $500, with an annual grand prize: $5,000 additional! If you have not read the contest rules, please click here before submitting. To enter, go here.

Illustrators
L. Ron Hubbard’s Illustrators of the Future Contest is an opportunity for new science fiction and fantasy artists worldwide. No entry fee is required. Entrants retain all publication rights. All judging by professional artists only. $1,500 in prizes each quarter. Quarterly winners compete for $5,000 additional annual prize! If you have not read the contest rules, please click here before submitting. To enter, go here.

Manuscripts may be any genre for children ages 5-12, or young adult ages 12-18. Manuscripts should address the needs of children of color or native children by providing stories they can identify with and which promote greater understanding of one another. Themes relating to non-traditional family structures, gender identity, or disabilities are also of interest.

Contestants must meet all of the following criteria to be considered:

Self-identify as a person of color or a Native/indigenous person.

Be at least 18 years old at the time of entry.

Be a resident of the United States.

Must not be agented.

The Award winner receives a cash prize of $2000 and their standard publication contract, including their basic advance and royalties for a first time author. An Honor Award winner will receive a cash prize of $1000.

But the window for submission is closing soon! All manuscripts must be submitted no later than August 31, 2018. Be sure to read their entire guidelines before submitting. As always, good luck!

The James Jones Fellowship Contest is for a novel-in-progress by a United States unpublished author. The award is given annually with a grand prize of $10,000. There are two runner-ups given a prize of $1000 each. A selection from the winning work will be published in Provincetown Arts. In order to enter, the author needs to submit the first 50 pages of the novel-in-progress, a two-page outline, and a $30 entry fee.

According to the web page, the award is intended to honor the spirit of unblinking honesty, determination, and insight into the cultural and social issues exemplified by the late James Jones, author of From Here to Eternity and other prose narratives of distinction. Authors can submit online or via SASE. The deadline for the contest is March 15, 2018. For complete guidelines, please visit the fellowship website. As always, good luck.

The deadline for Pacific Northwest Writers Association Literary Contest is approaching. All unpublished entries must be received by March 23, 2018. This is also a chance to get feedback on your work. There are twelve categories:

mainstream

historical

romance/women’s fiction

mystery/thriller

sci-fi/fantasy/paranormal

young adult

middle grade

nonfiction/memoir

poetry

short story

children’s picture/chapter book

adult short topics (articles/essays/memoir)

There are three monetary prizes:

FIRST PLACE: $600

SECOND PLACE: $300

THIRD PLACE: $100

Eight finalist will receive two critiques on their submissions. The agents and editors participating in the PNWA‘s summer conference will pick winners out of the finalists. Go here for complete details. As always, good luck!

Sparkhouse Family is a faith based publisher. They aim to publish creative, winsome, charming stories that help parents instill an open-hearted, transformational, life-long Christian faith in children ages 0-12.

The Sparkhouse Family Children’s Picture Book Contest is an open call for picture books that support this mission. They’ll choose one manuscript to develop into a picture book. The winning author will get a prize of $5,000 and a chance to have their book published by Sparkhouse Family.

To enter, submit a brief synopsis of your book, your author bio, your contact information, and complete manuscript. All submitted works must be finished, previously unpublished manuscripts of 1,000 words or less. The contest is open to new, upcoming, and established writers alike, but only unagented submissions are eligible.

They’ll accept submissions through November 17, 2017. As always, good luck!

Manuscripts may be FICTION, NON-FICTION, or POETRY for children ages 5-12. Manuscripts should address the needs of children of color or native children by providing stories they can identify with and which promote greater understanding of one another. Themes relating to non-traditional family structures, gender identity, or disabilities are also of interest.

Contestants must meet all of the following criteria to be considered:

Self-identify as a person of color or a Native/indigenous person.

Be at least 18 years old at the time of entry.

Be a resident of the United States.

Not have had a children’s picture book published.

The Award winner receives a cash prize of $1000 and their standard publication contract, including their basic advance and royalties for a first time author. An Honor Award winner will receive a cash prize of $500.

But the window for submission is closing soon! All manuscripts must be postmarked no later than September 30, 2017. Be sure to read their entire guidelines before submitting. As always, good luck!

This is a grant for published writers to help them set aside time for writing, research, travel, and general career advancement. The grant awards $25,000 to the winners. The deadline to submit your application is tomorrow, March 8, 2017.

This year applications are for fiction and creative non-fiction. The winners won’t be announced until around December, 2017. Their support of a project will be anytime between January 1, 2018 and January 1, 2019.

If you write poetry, applications will be taken early 2018 for a 2019 winning and support. As always, good luck!

Oh yes, it’s that holly-jolly Pitchmas time! You know? The best time of the year! Where agents and editors stalk the feed to give you literary cheer!

Jessa Russo and Tamara Matayaare at it again! To submit, you’ll need a 35 word pitch for your finished, polished and unpublished manuscript! They will take submissions by email only, starting Sunday 12/11/16 at 9am PST and ending Monday 12/12/16 at 6pm PST. The winners will go live on the blog December 15, 2016.

You can find this years participating agents and editors here. And don’t worry if you don’t make the contest. There will be a twitter pitch party for everyone on December 16, 2016. Be sure and use the twitter hashtag #Pitchmas (I’ll post a reminder). As always, good luck!